Carrying the Banner Through Anaheim
by Crutcherella Wormwood
Summary: Silly little not-much-thought-put-in fic I just wanted to drabble in. Some of the boys and Katherine get to take a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. Pay them a visit and see what they means. (Disneyland and California Adventure are both included. A logical explanation for time travel is not. Plot hole. Deal with it.) wip.


_**Author's note:**_

_So, this is my goofy little thing. I know I'm already updating the Blind Mouse fic thing like crazy. I just thought it would be fun to drabble with for a little while. I go to Disney World and Disneyland very often, so I developed a couple of headcannons about the boys' experiences with certain attractions. California Adventure will be included too, especially a certain street performance troupe on a red trolley :)_

_(I don't know how many people are actually going to understand that, but you'll all see later.)_

**_~CW_**

A turnstile operator stood at the entrance of the Disneyland theme park. She looked around to find the flow of tourists a bit slower than normal, and didn't put much thought in effort into checking them in, seldom a few muttered "Place your right index finger there"'s or "have a magical day"'s.

"This is gonna be great! Don't you think, David?" She heard some little boy call out.

"I can't believe Hannah could get us tickets on such short notice!" Some young woman said in line.

Finally, the flow of families coming into the park ceased.

"Next," the cast member prompted, looking up to see who had forgotten to walk forward.

In front of her stood seven peculiar figures – a cocky-eyed boy of seventeen in all blue, worn clothes and a dirty cap, a taller one with a clearly ironed shirt, vest and tie, the little guy in a big bowler hat whose shoulders were grabbed by the previous teenager, a middle-heighted boy with a cheeky smile and a tan vest and hat, a juvenile dressed similarly with a cigar sticking out of his mouth, a girl with curling chestnut hair and a striped, full-length and full-sleeved dress in the summer, and a backwardly-capped fellow with messy blonde hair and a majority of his bodyweight on a rickety old crutch. He limped forward a couple of steps and held out a half dozen tickets with pictures of Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, and Donald on them. "Sorry, Miss. We'd like ta come in, if that's okay wid' you."

She let out a sharp exhale. Looks like it was going to be one of those days.

**…**

Katherine snatched up a map and Times Guide off of the shelf on the wall under the train station bridge. The rest of the gang quickly followed.

"All right boys…" She unfolded the crisp, freshly-printed park map. Romeo and Crutchie dashed around to look over her shoulder. "Where to first?"

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Les whined. Davey grabbed him from his rib cage and hoisted him up to eye level with the map. "What's that place over there? Tomoorrwow Land, right?"

"Tamorrah Land," Race corrected, looking at is own map, even though his own pronunciation wasn't any better. He rolled his cigar between his teeth. "The kid wants ta head over there first?"

"Sure!" The kid agreed. Davey set him down.

"Some fancy rides they got over there," Crutchie thought aloud, scanning the lineup on his own map. "Racin' carriages, machines that shoot ya to the moon…"

"Excuse me, sir?" A perky voice asked. Crutchie and the others turned to see a widely smiling blonde cast member in a plaid vest.

"Hello! I just thought I would guide you over to the wheelchair rental station, if you hadn't already visited." She gestured behind her to an office that stood right across from the wall of map shelves and attraction posters. A man sat at a desk assisting an elderly woman with her motorized scooter reservation.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout it," Jack told her. "He's doin' jus' fine."

She kept her smile up. "Oh, it's no trouble at all, and hotel guest can get a discounted price billed straight to their room, forty percent off!"

"No thanks ," Crutchie assured her. "I'd rather be walkin wid' everybody-"

"Oh, I insist, kind sir!" The cast member prodded with a sweet voice.

"Sorry, we ain't interested," Jack said. "C'mon, Crutch, let's beat it."

The cast member dropped the grin. "Look. It's not a choice. You can't bring the crutch on the rides. You have to either be fully ambulatory or able to convert from a wheelchair."

Crutchie began to say, "Whaddya mean I can't-"

"I-I-I think what we're trying to say," Davey cut in, fishing his plastic room key out of his pocket, "Is that we can't believe that the discount is so great. We'll take one."

"Dave!" Crutchie muttered.

"You start this trip off on a good note or what?" He murmured, handing the cast member the card to scan. Crutchie turned to Jack, like a child whining to his father after his mother had denied him a toy he wanted.

"A wheelchair? Really?" He whispered.

"It ain't that bad," He said, patting him on the back. "Don't worry, when we get out of eyesight of these creeps we can ditch it."

"Here you go!" The cast member happily rolled out a navy and silver Disneyland licensed wheelchair, adorned with a pink, glittered "Disney Princesses" balloon featuring Rapunzel, Belle, and Cinderella.

"Aw, a pwetty prwncess floaty, jus' like ya always wanted!" Race commented in a baby voice. Crutchie shot him a glare of flaming daggers as he sat down in the chair.

"Thank you, and have a magical day!" The cast member chirped as she floated away to help another guest.

"C'mon, guys," Romeo urged. "Let's getta move on already!"

Jack grabbed the wheelchair handles and pushed off. "Fellas, I gotta feelin' today's gonna be a great day."

**…**

"Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin," Romeo read off of a large, glowing blue-and-green sign in front of a massive line. Techno music echoed in the background. Two cast members in grey uniform stood by the entrance, collecting Fast Passes.

Davey approached a post with a description and height requirement. "It's two to a car. It's making it sound like some kind of game. Like you… shoot lasers or something?"

"Whoa!" Les exclaimed.

"This'll be interestin'," Race commented

"Okay, it just seems a tad… I don't know, violent?" Davey said. "Maybe Les should hang back."

"Let the kid live a little," Jack replied. He crouched down to look at Les. "Ya wanna ride with me?" Les nodded, knocking the brim of his hat over his eyes. He tipped it back up.

"I'll go wid' Race," Romeo added.

"A'ight,, squirt."

"Miss, Katherine, ya wanna ride with me?" Crutchie asked.

"Sure thing." She agreed. She looked down to the ground for a second, mentally counting out the members of their group. "That just leaves…"

"David," Les finished. "I'll ride with you on the next one."

"Okay," He agreed. "Just be careful."

"Now we jus' gotta find where the damn line starts," Race muttered, eyeing the eternal queue of sweating tourists. The wait time on the sign read "70 Minutes."

Just then, one of the "Space Rangers" at the front noticed the group and approached them. "Oh, hey there! If you have a handicapped member in your party, I'd be more than happy to take you in through the back and straight to the loading dock."

Crutchie sighed. "That ain't nece-"

Race slapped a hand over his mouth. "Where's the door?"

**…**

"An' you thought the _limp_ gotcha perks!" Romeo said as they walked onto four halted Space Cruisers in a black-lit room. They were a bright blue with lime green trim and two laser guns on holsters mounted into the dashboard.

Jack helped Crutchie onto the bench inside the car before Katherine slid in next to him.

"You's gonna owe me a ride later, Plumber," he reminded her. She smiled.

"We'll see."

He tipped his cap at her as he walked backwards into a laser cannon that was swiveled out of a car. He stumbled back. Katherine stood up and put a hand to her mouth to hold back the laughter.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Peachy," He assured her, regaining balance and slipping into a car next to an enthusiastic Les. He was already trying to blast everything in the empty, black room.

"Thank you for your patience, Space Rangers, you journey will continue momentarily," A voice over the PA announced.

The cars jerked forward and away they went, through a hall meant to simulate deep space with bright stars twinkling on the walls. A large, menacing orange robot slowly threatening to destroy the line of Space Cruisers was the first moving structure they saw.

"Woah, what is that?" Race marveled.

"Ya mother," Romeo kidded, firing his laser cannon at a large "Z" target on the robot's chest. The bulls-eye glowed, and the boys noticed the score panels on the dashboard for the first time – Race's was at 0, and Romeo's just totaled up to 200. "Ha-ha!"

"Lucky first shot," Race claimed. He popped his own laser cannon out of its holster and looked around in search for the nearest target. Soon, he saw a silver robot coming up on Romeo's side. He grabbed for the joystick on the dashboard and yanked it to the right, whirling the cruiser around and throwing a distracted Romeo against the wall of the vehicle.

"'Ey! What was that for? I was lined up an' everything!"

"Shut up, Romeo, I gotta find an angle." Race hunched over, eyes looking just over the laser cannon.

Romeo looked outraged. "But that's my-"

"I said shut up." And with that, he sent the perfect blast onto a lit "Z"-target underneath the robot's red-clawed hand. A sound effect blasted from the cannon, and Race's score ringed up to 300.

"Oh, ya wanna challenge? You're goin' down!" Romeo pushed the joystick back to the left to get a shot at a frog-like alien marionette that danced on the wall. He was about to pull the trigger when Race leaned out front of him and got the shot first. His total rolled up to 500. He laughed nasally.

"See, Kid? That's jus' whatcha git for messin' wid' the master."

The car rolled into a chamber where the Evil Emperor Zurg in a purple cloak and mask sat in a rocket-like vehicle looping phrases about a "secret weapon." Targets were mounted on giant batteries that popped up and down in the foreground of the scene. Romeo threw the lever back right while Race was priming for a shot on the opposite wall.

"Whaddya think you're doin'?" Race demanded, throwing the joystick back.

"Gettin' my fair shot," Romeo tossed back, pulling it back his way. "You're cheatin'."

"I am _not_ cheatin'!" He yanked it back.

"Are too!" Another yank.

"Wouldja quit bein' such a baby?" Another.

Romeo grabbed at the joystick and pulled it far back. The car spun in fast circles.

"Wouldja stop bein' a scummy little-"

"You're gonna make me sick!"

Race pulled for the joystick. Romeo pulled back. The cruiser danced side to side as the tug-of-war continued.

"Listen here you sonova-"

_Crack!_

Romeo looked down. The joystick had broken off of the dashboard and was in Race's hand.

"You broke the damn machine!"

Race threw the stick out of the car. "Oh, like _I _would be so juvenile ta-"

A cussing and screaming match immediately initiated.

"Jack, what are they sayin'?" Les asked from the Cruiser directly behind the boys'.

"Oh, look. A space dinosaur," Jack replied, hastily turning the car the opposite direction. "Go shoot at that. I bet it's worth extra points."

**…**

"It's a good thing Hannah told me about the pictures they take on the ride," Katherine said cheerfully as she pushed Crutchie down the hall to the gift shop. "We can have something to take home to New York. It might be a nice little souvenir."

The group collected in front of a wall of monitors, each displaying a picture of each pair of passengers in the train.

"Hey, there's you and Crutchie!" Davey called, pointing. Crutchie looked determined, closing an eye to get a better aim. Katherine was in the middle of blinking and saying something, giving her an intoxicated appearance.

She cringed. "Yeesh. What about you guys, any good shots?"

"I found us," Romeo grumbled sheepishly. He half-heartedly gestured up to a pair of parallel monitors. In one, Jack was wincing, both hands over a confused Les's ears. In the second, Race and Romeo were grabbing at each other's throats, enraged.

"Oh-ho, that's a keeper all right," Jack laughed, making his was over to a kiosk under a banner that read, "Send Your Pictures Home Now!" He poked at the peculiar touch screen for a few moments before turning back to his party, scratching the back of his head. "Um, guys… what's an 'email address?'"

**…**

"So, where are we goin' for some grub?" Race asked as they departed the buzzing Tomorrowland and crossed Main Street. "I'm starved."

"Crutchie picked the place out when I was planning out the trip," Davey explained, barely looking up from his map. He had made it clear he had to lead the way.

"Yeah, but where?"

"Kinda a surprise," Crutchie answered. Then, with a small smile back at the boys, "Thought a specific member of our group might appreciate it."

A knowing grin slipped onto Katherine's face. Jack saw it in the corner of his eye and turned his head. "What?"

"Nothing."

Race ran up to Davey and peered over his shoulder at the map. He snorted. "Seriously? That's an entire land?"

"What's so funny?" Jack asked again.

Crutchie began chuckling under his breath.

Jack looked all around him. Everyone looked like they were stifling giggles and were all on board with whatever inside joke this was. Well, except Les. And Romeo, but he was always lost.

"Okay, somebody better tell me what kinda prank you guys are pullin' right now," He called back to the others.

"It ain't a prank," Crutchie said. "An' there's no need. We's here."

Jack turned his head back to the front and got an eyeful. The dirt streets were bordered with well-aged, rustic Western buildings with wooden facades of every shade between orange and mahogany. Cast members dressed in flannel with large hats and red bandanas around their necks. Classic cowboy anthems such as "Streets of Lerado" played softly in the background, and the path had a subtle scent of hay and livestock.

"Welcome to Frontierland," David announced. "Where the Wild West lives again."

Jack stopped pushing Crutchie for a moment and just took it all in. It was more beautiful than the aesthetically famous Fantasyland ten times over.

"So, whaddya think?" Crutchie asked with a huge grin, twisting in his wheelchair to face Jack. "Is it all ya hoped it would be?"

The latter boy looked down, grinned, and rubbed the younger's cap, ruffling up his hair. "You crippled son of a gun."

"Okay, fellas, lunch is at the Golden Horsehoe." Davey pointed to a huge painted white building with shining yellow letters spelling out the name. It was made up to look like a classic saloon.

"Onward!" Crutchie declared.

"You got it, Kid," Jack said, pushing off once more.


End file.
